Argentina v Uruguay Copa America Quarter Final Betting Odds – July 16th, 2011

Argentina v Uruguay 2011 Copa America betting almost feels like it is a clash between two stars, Lionel Messi v Diego Forlan. The Quarter Final encounter has quite a historical feel about it, because both nations have won the Copa America fourteen times, and in their head to head standings, you are looking at 13 wins apiece. So this may be tougher to call than expected. This match up is all down to Argentina’s failure to win their group, something which looked unthinkable at the start of the tournament. But, after two below par performances to start off their campaign, drawing against Bolivia and Colombia, they could only manage a second place finish behind the Colombians. Argentina did finally strike a bit of form in their final group match, as they crushed Costa Rica (who weren’t at fully strength) 3-0 thanks to a brace from Aguero. But it still looks as if Argentina are trying to sort out their formation, and of course, get the best out of their star Lionel Messi. This is not Barcelona we are talking about, although when you look at the Argentina squad, there is a wealth of world class talent there, they are just not the fully cohesive team which you would picture them as being. The side is still being tinkered with as they try and work their 4-3-3 formation, but they did get the balance a little better against Costa Rica after Gago and Di Maria formed a triangle with Mascherano to better fit with the three forwards. Argentina did show in patches against Costa Rica, just what they are capable off. Slick, quick passing, with Lionel Messi cutting in from the right instead of having to drop so deep to become largely ineffective. At their heights Argentina can dominate and destroy, it is just a matter of whether or not they can produce it for long periods of the game. They should get the chance to maintain a lot of possession against Uruguay, who will look to pick off the host nation on the break. Uruguay have not really lived up to their expectations following their successes of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and they have not had a lot of punch going forward. The duo of Diego Forlan and Liverpool’s Luis Suarez is a combination a lot of sides would like to have, but they too have been plagued with a lack of fluency about their game. A draw against Chile and Peru was rounded off with a 1-0 win over Mexico in their final group match to put them into second place in Group C. What Uruguay do do very well, is press the opposing teams. It is a tactic which we saw at the World Cup, and they try and go high and deny space. When it works, it frustrates opponents out of their game, but when it doesn’t Uruguay do not have a great deal to fall back on. Therefore, Argentina v Uruguay Copa America betting looks as if it should go they way of the host nation. Not sure if Uruguay really have enough firepower to get through this, but they will take hope from watching Argentina struggle to get into some of their games. Uruguay will look to frustrate Argentina and negate Messi, but they don’t look defensively strong enough.

Argentina v Uruguay Betting Odds

Argentina to win: 4/6 at Blue Square
Draw: 11/4 at BetFred
Uruguay to win: 11/2 at Bet365

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2011 Copa America – Argentina – Schedule, Betting Tips & Results